Pew Recommends Steps to Improve Public Health Data Sharing

The Pew Charitable Trusts sent comments on May 31 to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services outlining steps the agency could take to improve public health reporting as part of its proposed updates to its hospital payment rules. Pew worked with partner organizations to develop consensus around measures the agency could incorporate to support the sharing of public health data.

Among its recommendations, Pew encourages the agency to strengthen requirements around sending immunization and laboratory data to public health agencies electronically and in a timely fashion; encourage health care providers to participate in health information exchanges, which can make it easier to share data from and with health care providers; and expand the collection of comprehensive data on patients’ race and ethnicity, which can help public health agencies recognize whether different communities are facing disproportionate burdens from certain diseases.